What college student doesn’t want to gain real-world experience and earn extra money? But what exactly should you look for in a job while in college?
On-campus jobs offer lots of benefits for busy college students who want (or need) to work. Alyssa Chern ’20 describes a few of the reasons that these jobs can be the perfect way to balance financial, academic and professional obligations.
You’ll earn real money.
Whether you treat yourself for acing your midterms or save each paycheck, an on-campus job is a valuable income stream for any college student. The pay is comparable to what you’d earn off campus, and several offices and departments offer paid internships.
You get to know people and resources on campus.
Interacting with people in different majors and from different places helps build relationships. For example, a job in the campus library brings together students from across campus. Plus, working with your friends makes spending all that extra time in the library a little more fun.
Employers understand that you’re a student.
When you work on campus, your boss knows you have classes, student org meetings and exams. If you need to reduce your hours during finals, they’ll usually work with you. School breaks are usually work breaks, too. So if you’re planning to attend SXSW Music Festival over spring break, you usually don’t have shifts to cover between headliners.
You get real experience.
Many campus offices offer on-campus jobs and internships — for example, student life, the marketing office, tutoring labs and IT. That means you can get hands-on experience in your desired field as you work up to that prestigious internship next summer.
You can be a mentor to others.
Whether you want to help students adjust to college life as a resident advisor or help someone pass that accounting exam as a peer tutor, there are plenty of leadership positions. The best part about mentoring? You’ll learn something valuable from your mentees, too.
Alyssa Chern ’20 is a Marketing major from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She’s a student intern with the St. Edward’s University Marketing office.